


Don’t Come and Go, Like You Do

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Coming Around Again [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 02:03:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2410910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We were apart for thirteen months, surely many things happened in our lives.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don’t Come and Go, Like You Do

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from the Bic Runga song, _Sway_. I think it might be one of their songs.

Garcia saw him first as he emerged from the elevator. She let out a happy squeal, brushing past her team and throwing her arms around him. Jason Gideon was not at all surprised by the show of ebullience; it was Penelope after all.

 

“It’s good to see you as well, Penelope.”

 

“I've missed you.” She kissed his cheek before giving him a little space. She still held onto his arm. “I had to clean out your office; it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I thought we would never see you again.”

 

“I thought the same. Whoever said you can't go home again was wrong.”

 

“Definitely,” Garcia nodded. “I love the beard…very Educating Rita.”

 

“Thanks.” Gideon smiled.

 

The rest of the team caught up with Garcia. The moment was awkward; there was no way it would be anything but. Jason was jovial, shaking hands and kissing cheeks. He noticed that Prentiss hung back but he did not call her on it.

 

“What brings you back to the BAU, Jason?” Rossi asked.

 

“I was about to ask you the same thing, old friend. I’m having lunch with Kirk Douglas…playing catch up I guess.”

 

“Do you think he is going to ask you back?” Morgan asked.

 

Reid seemed curious to hear the answer, everyone did in fact.

 

“I really don’t know. Kirk and I have been friends since the Academy. I hope he knows me better than that. I just wanted to see the bullpen once more since I was here. I wanted to see if I got that pull back.”

 

“And?” Garcia pressed.

 

“Absolutely not. Anyway, I was hoping to borrow Agent Prentiss for a few minutes. I don’t want to be late.”

 

The team scattered, Garcia giving him more kisses and Hotch promising that they would talk. Jason and Emily walked the few steps to the elevator; she pressed down.

 

“Prentiss, we’re getting pizza,” Derek turned around. “You in?”

 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Thanks.”

 

“I've done something wrong, haven’t I?” Jason asked as they stepped onto the elevator.

 

“Why would you ask me that?”

 

“I can see it on your face. I didn’t mean to cause you discomfort, Emily.”

 

“You didn’t.”

 

She was not being truthful as she could not look into his eyes. Jason reached out, stroking his hand against hers.

 

“Where are we going?” Emily asked.

 

“I just wanted to spend a few minutes with you. You were gone when I woke up this morning and…I wanted to see your face. I apologize for showing up like this. It may end up being more trouble than you're in the mood for.”

 

The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the crowded lobby.

 

“Not everyone…well they know about us but….”

 

“You don’t have to say anything else.” Jason took hold of her arm. “I apologize and it will not happen again. This is where you work; I don’t want you to be uncomfortable here.”

 

“Its going to be a normal night, I think.” She smiled. “We can have dinner later.”

 

“There is this little bistro in Foggy Bottom called Quotient. You can meet me there at 7:30.”

 

“I will.”

 

Kissing him there was not going to happen so Emily just squeezed his hand. She got back on the elevator, riding up 24 floors and wondering what would happen when the door opened. The bullpen was crowded and active. She walked quickly back to her desk, busying herself with paperwork. Emily was surprised to see the shadow of her Unit Chief over her.

 

“May I speak to you in my office please?” Hotch asked.

 

Emily nodded, not wanting to know what it was about. As she sat down across from his desk, Hotch closed the door.

 

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

 

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

 

“I just figured with Jason showing up…”

 

“I only know what you know, that he is here to see Deputy Director Douglas. I didn’t know that he was coming and he apologized for showing up out of the blue. We’re still…”

 

“What?”

 

Hotch didn’t want to press but there was a part of him almost desperate to know what was happening between them. When Jason was still on the team, when Hotch was married, he suspected the two profilers might be involved. He could never put his finger on anything directly and soon enough his world turning upside down gave him other things to focus on. Jason left, Haley left, and they were all left scrambling for lifeboats in a very rough sea.

 

“It’s still new, Hotch, new again I guess. We are both still working through things. I don’t even know if I am the same Emily Prentiss I was a year ago. Jason doesn’t know about Strauss, the resignation, anything that happened in his absence.”

 

Hotch nodded, understanding. He cleared his throat.

 

“I'll give you a piece of unsolicited advice, Prentiss. If this is something you want hold onto it with both hands.”

 

“What if it’s too late?” Emily asked in a rare moment of revealing self-doubt. “Nevermind, I'm sorry. Do you need anything else?”

 

“No,” he shook his head. “Thank you Prentiss.”

 

She nodded, getting up and walking out of the office as fast as she could while appearing to be casual. It wouldn’t always be like this. Soon this would not be new and fascinating to the outside observer.

 

“Gideon looks good,” Derek said as Emily sat back at her desk. “He looks…healthy.”

 

“He feels good.” Emily replied. “He is happy to be home.”

 

She didn’t know what else to say and thankfully Derek didn’t continue the conversation. The pizza would be there soon; the rest of the day needed to be uneventful.

 

***

 

“Sorry I’m late. Its sad but I lost track of time doing paperwork.”

 

Emily walked over to the table, accepting Jason’s kiss on the cheek. She sat across from him at the small table. It was a cozy place, pretty, but small.

 

“I ordered you a glass of white wine,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

 

“No, it looks fantastic.” Emily sipped it while looking over the menu. “How was lunch with Deputy Director Douglas?” she laughed. “Oh my God, try saying that three times fast.”

 

“Kirk is doing well. We had a nice lunch and he got right to the point, which I have always appreciated. He wants me to return to my teaching position at the Academy. He said there has been a hole there since my departure and while I don’t believe him, I know there has been a hole in me.”

 

“You're returning to the FBI?”

 

When Melissa, their server arrived, Emily ordered the shrimp in butter garlic pasta. Jason wanted the large garden salad with spinach lettuce and feta cheese.

 

“Yes, I would return to the FBI. I am not returning to the field Emily, ever, but the best way to teach without hassle is to have my credentials reinstated. It’s not too difficult; I would take the same tests as everyone else. A physical, a shooting test, and a psych evaluation. Kirk asked me if the rumors of my insanity were true. No doubt those were started by Erin Strauss.”

 

Emily shuddered when she heard the Section Chief’s name.

 

“What did you tell him?” she asked.

 

“I told him the truth, I am not insane. The reason I am not is because I left when I did. I needed to reevaluate, get my mind and my thoughts together. Those thirteen months away from everything was the best thing I ever did for my sanity. If I'm honest with myself I should have never gone back to the BAU. Hindsight really is 20/20 though. Hotch needed me and I went back, that was all I was thinking about at the time.”

 

“There are some things you don’t know Jason…about the time you were away.”

 

“So tell me.” He reached his hands across the table, taking both of hers.

 

“It’s complicated.”

 

“Isn't it always? How about this, can I do something that will probably annoy the hell out of you?”

 

“I don’t know if I should agree to that.”

 

“C'mon Katya,” he grinned. “It will ease the tension on all parties.”

 

“OK.” She nodded.

 

“Erin Strauss put pressure on you to bury Hotch and I, didn’t she?”

 

“It was after we got back from Chicago. She informed me that I was in the BAU only on her say so and she expected my cooperation and thanks. I resigned.”

 

“What?”

 

“What else could I do Jason? I was not going to do her bidding…I was not going to bring down the team. Then you went missing and Hotch was transferring to white collar crime.”

 

“Yet here you both are.” Jason replied.

 

“We love your jobs, enough to sacrifice things that are so precious to us. There was also a guardian angel on our side with extensive computer skills who held up our paperwork in red tape.”

 

“How long was it before the two of you turned to each other for more than work?”

 

“Jason…” Emily slipped her hands from under his.

 

“What? Have I overstepped my bounds?”

 

“You don’t have to be so damn nonchalant, as if you are asking about the weather. You are asking me if I slept with my superior.”

 

“You don’t have to answer.”

 

Dinner arrived before Emily could say anything. She nodded to the server when asked if everything was to her liking.

 

“I think it’s a good idea if I don’t,” she said when they were alone again. “We were apart for 13 months, surely many things happened in our lives. There is no need to discuss things that aren’t pertinent to our future together.” Emily rolled her eyes. “That sounded so official. Still, I think you know what I mean.”

 

“I came back out of the blue, Katya.”

 

“Not quite out of the blue.”

 

“Well I would not assume…”

 

“Can we not assume anything? Can we just not talk about it? You are here now and that’s what matters to me. The past is the past and the future is the future.”

 

Jason nodded, having a clear answer to his question. If it was no Emily surely would have just said as much. He didn’t know how he felt about this. Yes he did, he was jealous. He was the one who left her alone without word for almost six months. He was also well aware about how his good friend felt about his lover, even if Hotch pretended to be oblivious. 

 

If she wanted to be with him wouldn’t they still be together? Did she feel some kind of obligation to stay with Jason…some attachment to moments in the past? Jason took her hand again, wanting to tell her that he loved her. He’d said it before, meant it every time, but did not want it to seem like a calculated move. This was not going to work if he couldn’t let go of the time they were apart. Jason came back for her and he needed to show it and prove it.

 

***

 

In the elevator riding up to her condo, Jason wrapped Emily up in his arms and kissed her forehead. She smiled while stroking his beard.

 

“I've been thinking about something.” He whispered.

 

“Hmm?”

 

The elevator opened, they walked hand and hand to her door. Emily fished her keys out of her purse. They walked in; Jason kissed her as he closed the door with his foot.

 

“I think I should find my own place.”

 

“I'm not kicking you out.” She replied between kisses.

 

“I didn’t say that. It’s just that I'm back and I should find some place more permanent. I could never go back to Georgetown but…”

 

“I want you to stay.”

 

“Tonight?” Jason toyed with the buttons on her dress shirt.

 

“Just stay.”

 

“Living together is a big step.”

 

“We’ve been doing alright these past ten weeks.” Emily reasoned.

 

“You’ve been counting?” Jason asked. Two buttons undone, his tongue ran along the smooth skin of her collarbone. The sound of her rapture was like a song.

 

“Mmm hmm. Every morning I wake up and you're there, I make a notch on my bedpost. Didn’t you notice?”

 

“When I'm in bed with you Katya, I only pay attention to you.”

 

“Mmm,” she drew him into another round of passionate kisses. Lips still locked they somehow managed to make it up the stairs. Jason pressed Emily against the bedroom door, his hands exploring her body. “Did we come all the way to the bedroom for you to fuck me on the door?”

 

“Is that what you want?”

 

“I just want you. I want you to stay. Unless…”

 

“Unless what?”

 

“Jason,” Emily stopped the kissing and touching. She took his face in her hands, the pad of her thumb stroking his cheekbone. “I want you to stay here. I want you here because I love you, I've missed you, and waking up with you reminds me how loved I am in return. If you want to have your space I can certainly understand. I will not beg you to be with me, cajole, or convince. You have to make those decisions by yourself. I am here and if you want to be here too that would make me happy.”

 

“I've wasted time, Katya.”

 

“Make it up to me.” She replied.

 

“Maybe there is someone else…”

 

“Maybe, but I love you. I have for longer than I can remember and I've never really stopped. If you're going to break my heart Jason, just break it but don’t you dare string me along.”

 

“Never.” He kissed her. “I am not going to break your heart again, not like I have. I made the mistake of leaving you once but I won't again. Here or in a place of my own, my heart is yours.”

 

Emily smiled. Seeing that made Jason smile as well, pulling her into his arms and toward the bed.

 

“And you make my bed,” she fell back on her mattress, Jason’s hand behind her head. “That’s fabulous.”

 

“Who knew you could be a slob?” his hand undid her slacks.

 

“I am not…”

 

“Shh,” his tongue ran across her bottom lip. “I don’t want to talk right now; I want to make love to you.”

 

Slacks down her long legs and off her feet, Emily Prentiss wrapped her legs around Jason. He smiled and began to undress them both.

 

“I love you, Katya.”

 

He wanted to say more but sometimes words were not enough. He could show her with his body but those promises could be empty as well. It would just take time, he would stay. He would be there when Emily looked over her shoulder or at her side. He wanted it as much as she did, maybe more. Who wouldn’t want to be loved by her? The feelings made him fly through the clouds. Just as he was doing right now.

 

***

                                                                                                                         


End file.
